Ultimate Crossover
by TallguyCPO
Summary: What if you had the chance to live in the world of your favorite manga? Look through the eyes of John Tonova as he does just that! Please Review!
1. The Meeting

The Meeting

Fourteen-year-old John Tonova, a normal, average teenager with an obsession for video games and comics—nothing out of the ordinary for someone his age—was browsing through the local bookstore one day; his generous Grandmother had given him a twenty dollar gift card, and he dared not wait until it expired.

Daydreaming, he wandered to the manga section, the unofficial hangout for him and his friends after school. He couldn't wait to spend those twenty bucks on a book to add to his vast collection.

He fingered through the various titles, each more interesting than the one previous, and each one screaming for him to buy. When John thought that he had confirmed his decision, something unusual caught his eye.

"What is this?" John wondered, as he looked at the bookshelf of his favorite series, Naruto, to a book that seemed different in color than the rest around it.

"Strange," he thought, "this store is usually so tidy; someone must have put this book out of place… idiots…"

He plucked the unique book from its place, and stared at it. He had started to examine the strange book, it had no title, and the front was a complete crimson red, no picture. He touched the book, when the cover seemed to glow for a moment. At that second an illusionary-looking face with an evil grin stared him in the eyes, as if it knew him and his every thought.

"Wh-what?" John could not believe his eyes, the face before him replicated that of the Kyuubi, the nine-tailed demon fox!

He stood there, transfixed by the hellish sight in front of him. He did not know how much time passed before he was shaken out of his stupor by a thin shop worker.

"Uh, sir? You've been standing there for an hour, staring at that book. Is anything wrong?" The worker bore a befuddled look on his face, almost as if he was afraid to speak to this man.

"An hour? I've only been here a couple of minutes at most!" He answered the man, but the worker responded "No sir, when you arrived it was 2:05, now it's 3:11."

John paused for a moment, contemplating what had just happened. "Well no, nothing's the matter. But I have one question; why is this manga different from the res……" His voice trailed off as he glanced at the book in his hands, it now bore a completely normal countenance, with the familiar white coloring and image of team seven on the cover.

"Sir?" The worker questioned, while at the same time pondering this mans sanity.

John stared at the worker, then at the book, then proceeded to put it away. Whatever had just happened, he certainly didn't want it to happen again!

"I'm sorry for troubling you, sir." The worker scurried away from this teen, not wanting to meet him again anytime soon.

Replacing the book where he had discovered it, he proceeded to get out of that store, when he felt a force, unknown to him, draw him back to the very place he had first touched that weird book. Something about that manga wanted him to buy it, something unusual, something eerie. He argued with himself for a few seconds:

*That books dangerous; don't get it!*

*Aww, come on, don't you like adventure? Besides, what harm can it do?*

*Tons! You saw that image, that evil grin! No good can come of it…*

*Oh, come off it, you don't even know the definition of the word excitement!*

Eventually, the side of him that wanted to buy the book took over; he grabbed the book, expecting something scary to happen. When nothing out of the ordinary went on, he walked over to the cash register to purchase the manga.

"Did you find everything you needed today, sir?" The cashier asked.

"Sort of." Was John's cryptic answer, causing the cashier to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you mean by that, sir?"

"To tell you the truth, I really don't know myself."

The cashier saw something out of the corner of his eye, the same worker that had helped, or attempted to help, John earlier. He mouthed something, but the cashier didn't catch it.

"What?" The already-confused cashier responded silently.

"Skip the conversation-just sell the darn thing!"

Fortunately, John didn't notice the muted conversation, and brought out his gift card he had oh-so-carefully hidden in his pocket.

Not exactly realizing what the worker meant, the cashier swiped the card, handed John the receipt, quickly mumbled "Thank you, have a nice day" and immediately shouted "Next!"

John stood there for a second or two, thinking to himself, "What happened to the polite, patient demeanor?" and walked out the door.

His home was conveniently located two blocks away from the bookstore, very good walking distance. As his footsteps resounded on the near-empty sidewalk nearing his house, he pondered the unique book in his hands, the strange face, and the way time seemed to warp drastically when he stared at it.

"I could have sworn I only spent a minute or two looking at that face." The more he thought about it, however, the more he began to think that he had just been seeing things.

But this unexplainable occurrence could wait; he couldn't wait to start reading his new book!

He arrived home, plopped down on the couch, pulled out his newly bought book, and stared at the cover. The same crimson red color that had covered the book when he first noticed it had appeared again!

"AUGH!" He hurled the book to the floor with an audible "Bang!" causing his mother to rush in the room with a look on her face that said "Okay, what'd you do now?"

"M-m-m-om…" John stuttered, pointing at the mysterious book. "L-l-ook…"

"John, what are you pointing at? Do you want to return that book?" John looked at the book, and gaped in shock; the cover was back to normal.

"B-b-but, th-th-the c-cover was r-r-ed…"

John's mom threw her hands in the air and marched out of the room, muttering under her breath: "I swear, one day that kid will drive me crazy."

John picked up the book in a cold sweat, and pondered the day's activities. He had noticed the weird cover for the first time in the store, but when someone else looked at it, it was gone. Then it happened again, this time at his house. When his mom looked at the book, the ghostly red color had vanished. Then, there was always that face that had appeared in the store…

His hands moist, he gripped the pages of the book, and felt his lungs contract. He exhaled, not realizing that he had held his breath.

He flipped the book open, and the room around him immediately darkened. "Wh-wh-what?" He couldn't believe his eyes, there, in front of him, as real as life, floated the face of the nine-tailed fox.

"**Boy, I've been watching you." **

John rubbed his eyes in disbelief, he could have sworn the fox had just spoken to him. "This can't be happening… I must be having a bad dream… Yeah, that's it, a dream."

He pinched himself, expecting to wake up to his comfy beige bed with his tv on, but was sorely disappointed.

"**I assure you, I am quite real. Now listen to me. I've been humored by the way you buy all these scrolls, not thinking if the stories they tell are real. You assume them to be fake, however you cannot even grasp the falsity of that assumption. I'm interested in your fascination with my world. So, I'll give you a chance to come to my world, the same way I've come to yours." **

"W-w-wait a second," John stuttered, sure that he was still dreaming. "How can you do that? I mean stuff like chakra and jutsu and all that stuff don't actually exist, do they?"

"**WRONG! Now hear me: I can easily transport you into my world, but you will have to do something for me." **

Growing a little bolder, John inquired "Well, what is it?"

"**In time, boy, in time. But you have to give me an answer now. Do you, or do you not, want to travel to my world?"**

"The world of Naruto?"

"**That's what they call my vessel. Now, what is your answer?"**

"Wait, I'm still in school, you can't expect me to just disappear, can you? What's going to happen to my parents? My teachers? My girlfriend?

"**Look outside."**

If John was befuddled before, his confusion increased tenfold when he peered outside. Absolutely nothing was moving; not the cars, the birds, even that fish in the lake was frozen in mid-jump.

"What's going on?" John wondered to himself.

As if the Kyuubi could read his thoughts, it answered "**I have stopped all time in this world for the duration of your leave. I ask you one final time, what is your answer?"**

With the knowledge that the Kyuubi could warp time under his belt, John now knew why an hour had passed in the shop while it seemed only a few minutes. It made sense that if he could control time, then he had the power to warp him to the world in the manga. Once again, the two sides of his conscience argued.

*Don't do it! You can't trust this fox!*

*Oh, you coward! Where's your guts? Be brave, like me!*

*You're not brave, you're just foolish!*

*I'm braver than you'll ever be!*

John pondered both sides for quite a while. The fox waiting in front of him was somewhat patient, thankfully. Years spent in a cage had chilled his temper a bit.

Then John smiled. He looked up at the fox, with no sign of fear whatsoever in his eyes.

"**Well?" **

His heart racing with adrenaline, the adolescent stared the fox straight in the eyes and voiced three simple words.

"I'll do it."


	2. The Shift

The Shift

"Uhh…" Johns head was pounding like crazy; his skull seemed ready to crack at any moment.

"Argh…What a weird dream….What time is it.…Ah!" John had reached for his alarm clock to check the time, only to grasp thin air. He fumbled around for it, but he again failed to find it. He then reluctantly cracked his eyes open to search for it.

What he saw caused his eyes to resemble marble saucers.

Staring him straight in the face was a lady in a nurses' outfit, with a concerned look in her eyes. "Sir? Are you okay?"

It took John a moment to realize that she was conversing with him in Japanese. However, this fact didn't faze him; his mind was too clouded to think of anything else besides his aching body.

"I'm sorry, I don't speak Japanese, do you know English?" He responded in impeccable Japanese.

"Excuse me?" The nurse asked, with a confused look on her face.

It took John more than a moment to realize that he had just spoke Japanese to this nurse, purely out of instinct, with the same fluency as when he used English.

"I'm sorry, could you excuse me a moment?" The puzzled teen inquired.

"Yes, sir." The nurse stepped out of the room and slid the door shut.

"Alright, what exactly has happened to me? I just spoke Japanese to that lady, and now…" His voice edged away when he became conscious of the fact that the language he was using in his head was Japanese, not his normal everyday English.

"**Surprising, isn't it?"**

John leapt up with a start, glancing across the room, shouting "Who's there?"

"**My, my. Surely you haven't forgotten already?"**

"How could I forget? I don't even know who youuu……" His voice trailed off as he recognized the heavy, demonic accent in the voice.

"K-kyuubi?" He whispered, his worst doubts coming to reality.

"**It's good to see you haven't been struck completely dumb."**

All at once, Johns head cleared, and the events of the last couple of hours played back in his mind.

*Flashback*

"So, what do I do?" John asked the colossal image in front of him.

"**First, you must grab that book you just purchased. That's your portal."**

John grasped the manga he had just bought. "This?"

"**Yes. Now, you must do what all ninja in my world do. Sign your name in blood on the back of the cover."**

John flipped the cover open, to find a peculiar inscription on it.

"**In Kanji it states: If you wish to warp, sign here. With the tailed fox, you have nothing to fear."**

"I suppose by 'tailed fox', it means you?"

"**Correct. Now, take a needle, knife, whatever you mortals use to draw blood, and sign your signature on that page."**

Feeling in his coat pocket but failing to find his pocketknife, he did what the typical procedure for ninjas in that world was: he bit his finger to draw the blood.

"Gurk!" Feeling more pain than he had expected, he held his finger for a while in hurt. The Kyuubi had to eventually remind him that he had bit his finger to sign the page, which John gradually proceeded to do.

"**Good. Now, repeat the hand seals on the bottom of the page."**

"Man, this guy's starting to sound like a tutorial for a boring game." John thought to himself.

However, he took note of a series of pictures on the bottom of the page, as the Kyuubi had said.

He made out the hand seals they signified, and slowly began to imitate them.

Upon completion of this task, John peered up at the Kyuubi and asked "Now what?"

"**Look behind you."**

Taking the fox's advice, John gazed over his shoulder, and beheld a hole floating in midair.

"**That is the portal which will take you to my realm. The book you signed was a modern day scroll, one which allowed you to summon the gap in space you see before you."**

After gawking at the mysterious hole, about 9 feet in diameter and totally black, he looked up at the Kyuubi with a questioning look on his face.

"**Well? Are you going to go in or not? Even thousand year old demons have tempers."**

Surprised, John stepped back. "Wait a minute, is that it? All I have to do is jump in there?"

"**Yes, if you want to get to my realm. But be warned, this summoning can only happen every year, after each usage it has to take time to regenerate. Attempting to re-summon it will consume a vast amount of your chakra."**

"So, it's either now or next year, right?"

"**Correct."**

John pondered this hole in front of him, then with strengthened resolve, whispered: "Heh… Guess I have no choice, then."

He took a few steps back; and charged forward, diving into this black portal.

For a few seconds, he couldn't see anything; the darkness in the portal was too thick.

He could sense however, that he was airborne, flying straight ahead.

Adjusting to the darkness, his eyes could make out shimmering dots of light, which he took to be stars.

Upon further observation, he noticed that the scintillating globules of light seemed to be soaring quickly in the opposite direction from the one he felt he was going, wherever that was.

"Are they the ones moving super fast, or am I traveling at breakneck speed?" He wondered.

"Umm, Kyuubi? Exactly where am I going to end up? Kyuubi? KYUUBI?"

Suddenly, he had a falling sensation, and noticed solid matter rapidly approaching him.

"Ohhh, this is gonna hurt."

Then he knew no more.

*End Flashback*

"THAT'S RIGHT! WHERE THE HECK WERE YOU????"

"**I was merely waiting for you on this side of the portal."**

"Wait, didn't you say earlier that the portal was the way you came to my realm? So why weren't you there with me?"

"**As I also told you before, the portal is a subject of mass energy. This energy is only necessary to transport someone who belongs to one realm to another one where he doesn't belong, then suspend him there. If at any moment this connection of energy is severed for any reason, the subject that was warped will automatically transfer back to his realm, as if he had never been there. That's all I did, I severed the connection, allowing me to transport to my realm faster than you did."**

John lay back on his bed, contemplating all he had just learned.

"Why didn't you tell me all of this sooner?"

"**I didn't find it necessary."**

"But you knocked me out when I landed, for gosh sake!"

"**That was an unpredicted circumstance, I forgot to position you so that you would land feet first."**

"Oh, I see. So it was you that caused me to land like that."

"**I could have caused you to land headfirst in the lair of Akatsuki, and see how you faired."**

"Akatsuki? NO, DON'T PUT ME THERE!"

"**Don't worry, I hate them as much as you do."**

"What? Why?"

"**Being sealed into a human is a painful process, as I found when the Fourth Hokage sealed me into the blond-haired brat. I am not willing to go through that process again, by being taken out then re-sealed. Besides, I am not a tool to be used by an organization at its beck and whim." **

John raised an eyebrow in surprise. Even the tailed beasts had pride, it seemed.

"I see. So where exactly are you? I can't see you."

"**Where do you think I am? Where am I usually located in this world?"**

Racking his brain, John thought back to when he had read the books in this series.

"Umm… In Naruto's stomach?"

"**So, you're not as dumb as I thought."**

"So, how did you manage to get out of the Fourth's sealing to see me?"

"**What you saw was a mere apparition of myself, formed by chakra I was able to leak a little bit at a time, so that no one would notice."**

For the first time, John realized exactly how much power this demon had over him. If his apparition was able to stop time, he shuddered to think what the fox could do with full power.

With respect lining his voice drawn from fear of being obliterated, John addressed the fox:

"So, with all due respect, where and when am I?"

"**You're in the Konoha hospital, being cared for under top priority. You hit the ground pretty hard."**

His head still pounding, John sarcastically replied "You think?"

"**I could still drop you off in the forest somewhere."**

Trying hard to change the subject, John inquired "Ummm… so when am I?"

"**I believe you're in what you call 'Volume One" **

"W-w-wait, you mean?"

"**To put it bluntly, my host is currently sitting in a class, hoping to become a Genin."**

"Then that means…"

John leaped out of bed and looked outside, searching for Hokage Mountain. There, he recognized the all-too-familiar graffiti that Naruto had painted on the faces of the Hokages; with two people cleaning it up, or trying to clean it up.

Dumbstruck with awe, John wondered with apprehension:

"Am I going to live through the life of Naruto?"


	3. The Disappearance

The Disappearance

Dumbstruck with awe, John dragged his feet to his hospital bed and plopped down in its springy cushioning.

"So, let me get this straight. You've transported me into your realm, from volume who-knows-what to volume one? Is that what I'm hearing from you? HUH?" John raged at the Kyuubi, who was communicating with him from the seal in Narutos' stomach.

"**Be careful what you say. Remember, I gave you the ability to warp here; I can easily remove it and trap you here forever. Or, at least until you die."**

With great difficulty, and with his head still ringing with the blow he received when he hit the ground, John soothed his rage and replied in a more placid tone; "Okay, I'm sorry. But why did you put me here and now?"

"**Because, with your fascination with this world, you will undoubtedly know what will happen next, because you have already read about these occurrences in your world, in what you humans like to call 'manga". If a person were to appear suddenly in a critical part of the story, for example when my host fights the assassin they call Zabuza, and you knew all his powers, techniques, and jutsu before you've even seen him, that person would no doubt be questioned by the authorities of this village, and most likely banished, at which point I can't help you."**

John gulped, suddenly nervous. "And I suppose that that person is….me?" He squeaked.

"**Correct. It would be wise to make your presence known now as the one who knows what will happen, instead of show up later when the calamity with the traitor called Orochimaru takes place."**

"But I can't see into the future… I don't have that type of power!"

"**Oh, but you do. Who are the two teammates of the blond-haired brat that form team seven?" **

"Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno, of course. Everyone knows thaaa…." John grew quite as he realized what he had just said.

"The teams haven't been announced yet, have they?" He whispered, fearing the Kyuubis reply.

"**Once again, you are correct. As I said before, you know everything that will happen, because you read everything that will happen. Not even the most powerful of Shinobi have that ability, and that will grant you respect in Konoha."**

"But I can't perform jutsu, I won't survive if assassins or hunter-nin target me!" John whimpered.

"**Have you tried?"**

"Of course! I've memorized every single hand seal sequence shown in the anime and manga!" John exclaimed.

"**Have you tried performing it here?"**

"Well, no, but…"

"**Then try a simple healing jutsu."**

Sighing, John ran through the series of seals needed to perform a healing jutsu.

Upon completion, John held his palm out and yelled "Heal!"

Almost instantaneously, his hand flared with a bright yellow aura, and John felt an acute tingling sensation in his arm.

"**Good, now hold it to your head."**

Already numb with surprise, John painstakingly lifted his hand and held it to his head.

No sooner had he touched his forehead with his flaring hand when all the pain and ringing in his ears ceased completely.

Lifting an eyebrow in disbelief, John stammered "O-o-kay, what just h-h-happened?"

"**When you were unconscious, I forced some of my chakra into your body, which enabled you to do what you have just done: Perform a medical jutsu."**

"But isn't your chakra red? Why was mine yellow?"

"**Your interaction with this world is unnatural, and your body isn't used to chakra. It ejected what you call antibodies to fight this substance, but instead of being destroyed by the cells, my chakra absorbed them and used the antibodies to create a type of chakra unique to you. Hence, the color changes."**

"So now I have chakra at my disposal?"

"**Precisely. And you'll notice that you will be able to manipulate all five elements."**

"All five? I thought even the best Shinobi could only use at most three."

"**Usually that would be the case, however you are not from this world. There are certain laws of this world that do not apply to you, and some restraints that are removed as a result."**

After this piece of information, John started fantasizing what exactly he could do with this chakra.

"Hey, Kyuubi."

"**What?"**

"So based on what you've told me, I can use all types of Jutsu?"

"**All except for those bloodline jutsu."**

Temporarily disappointed, John cast his eyes down to the floor. It didn't last long, however, as he shot his head back up again, and questioned the Kyuubi with momentous excitement in his voice.

"So any non-bloodline jutsu, I could use?"

"**Correct. Now, if you have grasped all that you need to survive here, I take my leave of you."**

John could hear the Kyuubis voice growing fainter, as if the fox was receding back into the fourth Hokages' seal.

"Wait! How will I find my way around? I need a guide, or something!"

John heard nothing for a short moment; he feared he had been left alone. Then a fading, heavy voice resounded in his head.

"**There is another…."**

"No! Stop! I…"

John paused as he heard footsteps by the door.

The metal entrance slid open as the same nurse who had helped him earlier poked her head inside, and asked "Sir? Did you call?"

John stared at the nurse, confused, and questioned her "Were you standing there all this time?"

With a befuddled look on her face, she replied "All this time? Sir? It's only been a few seconds."

Mentally kicking himself, John remembered the Kyuubi was able to stop time. And since time was moving normally now, it must mean…

"He's gone…" he muttered.

The nurse, officially bewildered, inquired "Sir? Who's gone?"

Looking up with downcast look on his face, he answered "Oh, it's nothing."

With and obviously forced smile, the nurse replied "Oh, okay sir." And with that, she quickly walked out and gingerly shut the door.

John sat there for a few seconds, half-expecting the Kyuubi to communicate with him in his head. When he heard nothing, he remembered that the fox had granted him chakra for his own use. He decided to see whether or not what the fox said was true; that he could use all types of jutsu.

With a suppressed smile, John walked over to the window, and slid it open so that the cool summer breeze wafted past him.

He performed hand seals that he had oh-so-carefully memorized, and shouted out "Fire Style! Great Fireball Jutsu!"

All at once, a burning sensation welled up in his chest. With pounding adrenaline pulsing in his veins, he inhaled a bucketful of air, and exhaled it all out in one blow.

Meanwhile, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno had just been assigned to team seven with each other as teammates. The clumsy blond jinchuuriki, the elite brunette Uchiha, and the shy pink-haired girl all sat in class, thinking about their new teammates.

Although Naruto was happy that he was teamed with Sakura, and Sakura was overjoyed that she was chosen to be with Sasuke, and even though Sasuke didn't care one way or the other, each didn't care for at least one member of their team, which made them less focused in class.

Umino Iruka, the sensei of the class, caught Naruto staring at Sakura. "Naruto! Pay attention!"

Moping, Naruto turned around. "Yes, Iruka-sensei."

"That's better. Now, here are the final scores for yourrraahhhh!" Iruka gaped at something behind the students in shock.

All the pupils, nonchalant Aburame Shino included, turned to see what had caused their teacher to stop in mid-speech.

Out of the window in the back of the classroom, to which everyone's eyes were glued, a huge, blazing fireball formed from what seemed to be the Konoha Hospital, sustained for about 5 seconds, then dissipated out of sight.

Everyone, Sensei included, stared at the window for a few seconds more in shock, when the loud, obnoxious voice of Naruto Uzumaki pierced the silence like a sword through a piece of clothes. His very words echoed the thoughts of all in the room who had witnessed that incredible sight.

"WHAT THE HECK???"


	4. Friend or Foe?

Friend or Foe?

Coughing, John laid back on his bed. He had decided that 5 Great Fireball Jutsus' in a row was quite enough, he had almost burned a nearby house to ashes on that last attempt. Besides, he might attract the attention of some villagers.

However, it was far too late for that.

"GET OUT OF OUR WAY!!!" Naruto, the blond, knuckleheaded Genin shouted at the crowd of villagers crowding in front of the hospital; each wondering what in the world that huge blaze of fire was.

Ironically, the villagers living in the house that almost got burned to a crisp spearheaded the mob of people, pounding on the door of the Konoha hospital, demanding entrance.

Finally, the door was abruptly opened, causing the crowd elbowing the door to crash through.

Through all this chaos, a dark, lone figure sitting under a tree in the very back of the crowd smirked, and disappeared.

On his semi-comfortable bed, John heard the faint sound of people shouting and screaming. Since his annoying headache was gone, thanks to his convenient healing technique, he stood up and walked out of his room.

He cautiously searched to the left and to the right outside his fourth floor room. After seeing nothing in the long, monotonous corridors of the hospital, he walked toward the stairs, and started down them.

He performed a careful inspection of the floors below him, but discovered nothing unusual, except for the occasional mouse, which he took a bit of delight in scaring by means of a stick lying on the floor.

Chuckling to himself, he trotted down the remaining flight of stairs to the first floor, when he heard the noises of a shouting crowd getting louder… and louder… and louder.

His curiosity intensified, he arrived at the final step and jogged out.

He heaved open the concrete doors of the hospital, and was welcomed by a couple of villagers crashing headlong into him, knocking him down.

John lay on the ground for a few moments on his belly, not quite sure what had happened. Then he felt the movement of people on top of him.

The compiled weight of the villagers wearing him down, John slowly rolled out of the human haystack and onto the side.

"WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?" John yelled at the villagers, who were in the process of busily picking themselves up.

"Kid, you'd better get out of here." A sullen voice warned him.

For a moment, John thought the Kyuubi was speaking to him once again, but immediately banished the thought, the accent was too different. Besides, it sounded too… well… lazy.

After failing to find the source of the voice, John asked out loud "Who's there?"

"Look up."

The confused teenager turned his head upwards, and noticed a masked, gray-haired man in a Jounin vest staring straight at him. Or at least he looked like he was staring at him, this man had only one eye showing.

Suspicious, John asked "Who are you?"

"Does it matter? I told you to get out of here."

"Why?"

"Because there were 5 consecutive Fireball jutsus that was performed in this hospital, a feat which only the most accomplished of ninja could do. There is probably a dangerous one in this hospital, and we want to get as many people away as possible. My partners are evacuating everyone else out too. You'd best get out of here."

John just stood there, thinking. _"Wait a minute, five fireball jutsus… That means…"_

Johns eyes widened in amazement, then he quickly assumed a normal face again.

"Alright, I'll get out of here like you say."

"Good. Now go."

John dashed toward the back door of the hospital, all the time pondering who the Shinobi was, and contemplating his words.

In a puff of smoke, a quiet figure appeared in a tree, overlooking the back door of the Konoha hospital.

"Anytime now…"

John ran through the back door, and sat down near the wall, not realizing that in the tree in front of him, someone was watching him.

"Man, that was cool! I'm being mistaken for a dangerous ninja, I can do something that even some of the best shinobi can't do, how can it get any better?"

This sudden revelation was dampened as he realized that he was still in his hospital gown.

"Aw, man! My clothes must still be in my room!"

He stood up and started to go through the back door once again, when his senses were instantaneously brought back to attention by the sound of a leaf being crunched behind the tree.

All of a sudden, a flash of light blinded John, and he felt a solid object hit his head, hard.

He fell toward the ground, half-unconscious, and felt a large hand feel his forehead.

In his mind, John imagined a large, burly robber with a sword in his hand, ready to stab him.

However, as much as he wanted to struggle, he couldn't get up, much less stop the assailant.

As John fought a losing battle for his consciousness, he heard a snickering voice whisper a single word:

"Bingo."

Then all was still.

John awoke, groggy, in what seemed to be a dimly-lit house, lying on a bed much more comfortable than his hospital one.

"Finally, you're awake." A sharp voice pierced the silence.

"What? Who's there?" John shouted, half-alert, half-asleep.

"Sorry for hitting you on the head, you wouldn't let me near you any other way."

"What? What are you saying?"

Out of a dark corner of the room, a dark-haired, tall, well-built figure stood up and walked toward John.

"You should relax, you'll hurt yourself otherwise."

"ANSWER MY QUESTION! WHO ARE YOU????"

After a moment of silence, the dark figure finally spoke.

"My name… is Ikimaru Tarimi.


	5. An Unexpected Ally

An Unexpected Ally

The usually-silent Konoha Hospital teemed with running, falling, and otherwise chaotic patients, civilians, and nurses each being ushered out of the building temporarily by the most elite of Shinobi.

The grey-haired Jounin Kakashi Hatake directed the distracted mob of people out of the door, while youth-obsessed Maito Gai and hot-tempered Mitarashi Anko rushed around inside the building at breakneck speed, checking every room for a possible invader.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stood on one side of the building, with numerous chakra-sensing ninja posted on either side of the hospital, to keep tabs on any unusual flare in chakra; friendly or otherwise.

The Hokage scanned the building with his eyes, focusing most on the window where the blazing fireballs were said to originate.

Gritting his teeth in frustration, the Hokage formulated many a question, each one without an answer:

"How did the intruder get into Konoha without detection? How did he pull off that many fireballs in row? Aren't the Uchihas the only ones capable of that?"

But one question stuck out in his mind, one that every Jounin, Chunin, and ANBU was thinking:

"Who is he?"

"So let me get this straight. You're saying that you came here the same way I did, except that instead of the Kyuubi, the Ichibi brought you here? And that instead of an exceptional amount of Chakra, the one-tail gave you sword-fighting abilities and the chakra-sensing technique? Is that what I'm hearing from you?"

"Correct."

John shuttered. The way this stranger voiced the word "Correct" reminded his of the hellish accent of the Nine-tails.

"And what did you say your name was again?"

"For the fifth time, my name is Ikimaru Tarimi."

In that moment, a very out-of-place thought entered Johns head.

"What, you mean like Akamaru, the mutt?"

In a flash, Ikimaru's sword was drawn, and the tip of it a centimeter away from Johns throat.

"Never call me that again."

Raising his hands in helpless surrender, John muttered "Okay, okay. I was only playing."

Sheathing his sword quietly, Ikimaru's heavy voice resounded in the empty room:

"Jokes like that cannot be tolerated here. Perhaps back on our home planet, on earth, it was okay, but here, one wrong word can earn you a sword through your gut."

Cringing at the thought, John answered "Oh. I see."

Sullenly, John thought to himself: "Well! This guy really has to work on his sense of humor!"

Ikimaru sat down in his corner of the dark room, and John took the opportunity to recount his experiences of the last few days.

"Okay, let's see here. I opened up a weird book, met the Kyuubi, got transported here, landed on my head, wound up in the Hospital, freaked out the entire village of Konoha, met this Ikimaru guy who claims to be from earth, and… and…and… Oh, I give up."

All of it seemed too unreal, like a dream gone sour, but his previous headaches and the shouting outside the window forced him to face reality; this was all too real.

Performing a quick healing technique to kill the pain in his head, John stood up and said: "Well, I'm bored. I'm gonna take a quick stroll outside."

Quick as lightning, Ikimaru's sword was at John's throat again, with the fifteen-year-olds voice accompanying it: "Are you an idiot?"

Sighing, John gingerly pushed the blade away, and replied, "I'm just going to take a quick stroll, is there anything wrong with that?"

Ikimaru sheathed his sword again, and sat down on the wooden floor. "It seems that you haven't fully grasped your situation. Look above you."

Taking the bait, John peered upward onto the darkened ceiling. In each corner of the room, he could barely make out a little paper note, with Japanese handwriting on it.

"What are those? They look like seals." John inquired.

"Very good. Those are indeed seals, meant to keep the chakra-sensors of this village from detecting you in this house. If you were to wander outside of this boundary, without proper training to keep your chakra flares under control, your presence and unusual chakra would alert the entire village of your presence, and that would spell death for you; or at least a series of Ibiki's torture procedures."

Not wanting to find out what that was like, John sat down on the floor and pondered what to do.

"You mentioned proper training, what does that mean?"

Without speaking, Ikimaru stood up, walked across the room to Johns bed, and pulled out a black-and-white checkered wooden board.

"Chess?" John asked.

"No. Shogi." Was Ikimaru's reply, as he poured out a mass of wooden tokens, each with a rectangular bottom and triangular top, and each with a symbol in Kanji written on it.

"But this is impossible, I can't read Kanji!"

"Have you tried?"

"Well, no, but…" John fumbled for an answer.

Holding up one of the wooden pieces toward John, Ikimaru asked, "What does this say?" indicating the symbol written on the Shogi piece.

John stared at the marking, and was extremely surprised when he could make out the word "King" from the Japanese Character.

A smirk of satisfaction forming on Ikimarus face at the sight of surprise on John's, he commented "You didn't think that you could only speak Japanese, did you?"

Still struck with awe at the discovery, John shook his head to clear his thoughts, and voiced a question that was nagging at him.

"So how is this going to help me train?"

"Simple. I'm sure you know that the game of Shogi can help you with strategy and analytical skills."

"Okay. Right."

"Well, that's not the only thing it can help you with. What do you think is the most important quality to have when trying to perform a sudden hand seal to, say, protect yourself?"

After a moment of thought, John answered him. "Probably hand reflex."

"Correct. In this game, you plot out a strategy. That's the analytical part of it. The reflex part comes when you see a move that you have to make, and your instinct kicks in and does it for you, without giving you time to think. You'll need that on the battlefield, when you have no chance to think, you just have to do whatever needs to be done without forethought."

John was catching on thus far, but one thing still bothered him: "But how will this help my chakra control?"

"Easy. Shogi will naturally make you focus on the game, not your chakra. With your focus retained on one object, your chakra won't have a chance to spike unnaturally."

Not quite getting it, but feigning so, John replied: "Alright, let's start then!"

"Report!"

"Hokage-sama. There was no sign of an intruder detected within the hospital, and thanks to Yuhi Kurenai, there is no genjutsu cloaking the invader. He seems to have vanished. Our best chakra sensors are scouting the village, but by all accounts, nothing has been discovered."

The Third Hokage furrowed his brow in frustration, and flicked his finger quickly and quietly.

"Dismissed!"

After a slight bow, the ANBU codenamed "Tiger" disappeared in a puff of smoke from the Hokage's office.

Sighing heavily, the Third slumped into his chair, the air exiting the cushion with an audible "Pppssshhh…"

"Who is this invader? Why has he disappeared? What does he want from the village?"

After being beaten by Ikimaru 5 times in a row, John got up, stretched, and sat down on his bed.

"So, how was that supposed to help?"

"Until you willingly reveal your appearance to the Hokage, and eventually to all the ninja, you need to focus on one object or thing to keep your chakra suppressed, as you did with this Shogi game."

Thinking of what he should focus on, and finally deciding on his long-bygone homework from earth, John opened the door, and let sunlight flood the otherwise-gloomy room. With that, John walked out of the room, out of the protective barrier.

Humming a little tune to keep himself occupied, John trod along the Konoha streets, careful to keep his chakra suppressed whenever he spotted a ninja, he spied the Hospital with a few ninja still posted at it, the all-too-famous Ichiraku ramen shop, and the large, red Hokages office with the Kanji for "Fire" imprinted on the front.

As he rounded a corner, John thought he heard someone follow him, and instinctively spun around on his heels and shouted "Who's there!"

When there was no response, John shrugged his shoulders, dismissing it as paranoia caused by this unfamiliar world, and continued down the dark alleyway.

John had gone no more than ten steps when the resounding clash of steel upon cold steel rang behind him.

Jumping rapidly away, John looked back and was surprised to find Ikimaru crossing blades with a large, hairy-faced stranger.

"Ikimaru! What…"

John was forced to leap away as another stranger; a thinner, less-shaggy stranger; swung another sword at him.

Turning in midair, John performed a series of quick hand seals, and shouted out "Raikiri"!

A surge of electricity forming in Johns hand, he plunged it toward the first assailant, jabbing it through his chest, killing him instantly.

The second, hairier attacker, after seeing his comrade die, disengaged with Ikimaru and ran across the street and out of sight.

Releasing the jutsu, John ran toward Ikimaru with an outstretched hand, shouting "Hey, Ikimaru! How'd I do?"

The only words that came out of Ikimarus otherwise-silent mouth were "You idiot."

Suddenly, Ikimaru fell to the ground, his sword still in his grip.

"What? Ikimaru, what happene…" were the only words that John could get out of his mouth before he felt a solid knock to back the back of his neck, causing him excruciating pain.

John fell, facedown, in the dusty road. Before he completely blacked out, John had a thought that described his situation perfectly, however intense:

"Not again…"


	6. Deception for Safety

Deception for Safety

"Report."

"Hokage-sama, we've located two armed individuals, a shinobi and a swordwielder, definitely not of this village."

The Third Hokage turned his full attention to the ANBU member kneeling in front of his large desk.

"Is there any possibility that they are responsible for that incident at the Hospital?"

The masked Shinobi turned his head upwards to speak: "There is a strong possibility of that, a very intense spike in chakra was detected in the Shinobi. We caught them by surprise, however, and are being interrogated by Ibiki as we speak."

Smiling with satisfaction, the Hokage issued an order:

"Do not let them escape, at any cost! Triple the usual amount of guards around the interrogation room! They must not roam Konoha!"

Bowing his head in obedience, the masked ANBU paused, stood up, and said: "I understand."

"Good. Dismissed!"

In a puff of smoke, the ANBU member was gone from the room, leaving the Hokage to decide the next course of action.

"I'll wait for Ibiki to work his magic. If they're spies, he'll know."

With that, the Hokage got up and shuffled out of the room.

John woke up to a stuffy, darkened room, not exactly the most cheerful place to be.

"ALRIGHT, WHO GOT US INTO THIS MESS????" John screamed.

Or at least he tried to scream. His words were muffled by a cloth tied stiffly around his mouth, so that all that came out was "Muuight, u pot puss mintoo hiss ess?

"Would you mind saying that again?" A soft, firm voice seemingly tinged with anger resonated in the darkness.

Turning his head to locate the source of the voice, he could barely make out a figure seated on a chair to the side of him, and an all-too-familiar Katana lying on this person's lap.

"Mipimahu?"

"Would you mind removing the cloth from your mouth?"

After an unsuccessful attempt to use his hands to accomplish this task, the main reason being his wrists were bound by apparently steel ropes, he resorted to straining his tongue and teeth to remove the cloth.

"Kaff! Kaff!" John attempted to inhale a breath of fresh air, only to have dust fill his lungs.

"Hey Ikimaru."

"Yeah?"

"Who put us in here?"

"You, idiot."

Taken aback, John argued "Me? How'd I do this?"

Sighing with frustration, Ikimaru responded "I told you to keep your chakra suppressed, but you had to go and use a Raikiri on the robber, allowing your chakra to be sensed."

"Oh. My bad."

"Yes, it was your bad. Thankfully, the Konoha Shinobi don't know that you used that particular jutsu."

"Why would that be bad?"

"Why else? If they knew you used a jutsu unique to Kakashi, we'd be in deeper trouble than we are right now."

"Wait, Kakashi? Kakashi Hatake? The Copy Ninja?"

"Who else?"

A flash of remembrance embracing his mind, John raised an eyebrow.

"_So that was Kakashi that I saw in the hospital…"_

Fumbling for a reason to change the subject, John asked "So, where exactly are we?"

Rolling his eyes, Ikimaru stated "Probably in Ibiki's torture room, seconds away from being interrogated."

Almost as if Ikimaru could predict the future, a door behind them swung open, flooding the room with an incandescent light.

Blinking to adjust his eyes to the sudden shock, John heard ominous, heavy footfalls behind he and Ikimaru, ones which he guessed belonged to Ibiki.

"Alright," a deep, bass voice whispered behind them, "You will tell us everything we need to know. Nothing less."

The voice seemed to match the gloomy aura of the room they were in, which got even more dismal as Ibiki silently closed the door, cutting off the flow of light.

"If you don't cooperate, I can do things the hard way." The crack of a whip reverberated behind them, a sound eerie enough to squeeze information out of almost anybody by itself.

"What were you doing in the Konoha Hospital?"

John floundered desperately for a suitable answer, but Ikimaru beat him to it.

With no sense of nervousness or desperation, Ikimaru stated "It was a test."

Ibiki, his voice unwavering, answered "What kind of test?"

Ikimaru, his voice also not perturbed, responded "To see how good the security was in this village."

Johns eyebrows shot up, and frantically whispered "Ikimaru? What…"

John stopped when he saw Ikimaru mouth to him "Play along."

Thankfully, Ibiki did not see or hear that little dialogue, and continued:

"The security?"

"Yes. We are missing-nin of the sound village, former subordinates of Orochimaru."

Perhaps John was hearing things, but Ibikis voice seemed hesitant for a while when he answered "Orochimaru?"

"I'm sure you heard of him. Legendary Sannin, Snake user, banished from Konoha for illicit experiments."

"Of course I've heard of him. But why did you run away?"

"Because we uncovered some valuable information that only he and his closest servants knew of."

"So why did he want to kill you?"

"He was distrusting of us from the start, when one of his ninja was killed on a mission he sent us on, us being me, John here, and that nin. There was no sign of an enemy attack, because the assailants covered up their tracks extremely well, so we were suspected of betrayal."

"So he wanted to murder you so that this piece of information wouldn't reach the wrong hands."

"Correct."

"And what is this information?"

Ikimaru paused for a moment, so John took over.

"That's a top secret matter, one which only the Hokage himself can hear. No one else."

Ibiki seemed to think about it for a moment, and questioned "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

Ikimaru smiled, and pulled out two headbands with a musical note on the metal forehead protectors.

"These are our former forehead protectors, you can get a dog-user to sniff them, to confirm that they're ours."

Without a sound, Ibiki turned on his heels and opened the large steel door, once again letting light bathe the room.

John and Ikimaru could hear Ibiki shouting orders to a ninja.

"You! What's your name?"

"Kiba Inuzuka, sir. What'd I do?"

John smirked. _"Kiba, huh? With Akamaru? Wonder what Ikimaru would do if Kiba teases him about the names…"_

John could think no further, however, as two pairs of footsteps trod into the room.

Ibikis voice rang out in the room: "Kiba, I want you to sniff these forehead protectors."

Kiba took a glance at the headbands, and immediately argued "Sound nin? Why do I have to do it?"

"Do it." Ibiki subtly threatened Kiba with those words in a way Kiba could not refuse.

"Okay, okay." Kiba took the head protectors, and sniffed each one.

"Now what?"

"Now, see if the odors match these men." He stated, pointing to Ikimaru and John.

Kiba nodded, and stood behind the pair, sniffing the top of their heads.

"Hmmm…" Pointing to Ikimaru, he said "Citric third-degree…, yes, this forehead protector belongs to him." Confirming the Alibi of Ikimaru.

John gulped as Kiba extended his finger toward him. "Odiferous first-degree…yeah, he's also the one."

John breathed a sigh of relief as Ibiki dismissed Kiba and shut the door, once again plunging the room into darkness.

A moment of silence ensued, then was broken as Ibikis voice talked to them.

"I'll report you two to the Hokage. Don't even try to escape. The guards are tripled around here; an attempt to escape will result in your death."

John whispered under his breath, "Yeah, like that'll stop me."

Ibiki left the room, closing the door behind him.

After about a minute of the duo sitting silently, John asked Ikimaru "Where'd you get those things?"

Ikimaru turned his head towards John. "What things?"

"The forehead protectors with my scent on them."

"Oh, while you were knocked out in my room, I rubbed some of your sweat on it, just in case something like this happened."

Amazed at Ikimaru's foresight, John relaxed as much as he could in his chair, and asked his next question: "Okay, so what's gonna happen to us now?"

"It all depends on what the Hokage does. If he believes our story, we'll be at least live for another day. If not, we'll be worth nothing more than a counterfeit one yen coin."


End file.
